26 Best Budget Laptops: Holidays 2016

The Best Budget Laptops?

By that, I mean the laptops that offer the best features according to their category, at multiple price points up to $650.

Why write this article?

How much time do you have to research the best computer?

Many of us don’t have much time to read, or the knowledge to understand, detailed laptop specifications nor reviews and just want to know:
“What’s the best budget laptop for my needs?”

I’m here to help you with this article. I believe that you deserve the computer that is the best for your needs. That way, your computer is working for you and not the other way around. This allows you to focus your full potential on realizing what you want, without being limited by your computer.

I then recommend laptops that I think are the best at a given price, according to those features that I evaluated on the hundreds of laptops that I’ve considered during the research that I do to write this article.

Chromebook: Simple, inexpensive, secure, Chrome OS

ASUS C201PA-DS02 11.6″

About the ASUS C201PA-DS02

– Most inexpensive quality Chromebook
– Up to 13 hours battery life
– Very thin and only 2lbs
– Comes in three different colors (Gold, White and Blue)

Are you looking for a highly portable laptop, with a long battery life, to go on the Internet, check your e-mails, use Microsoft Office and do other simple tasks?
The ASUS C201PA-DS02 is the most inexpensive Chromebook that comes with 4GB RAM. It is also one of the most portable and lightweight Chromebook available and weights only 2lbs!

With its amazing battery life, this Chromebook is the most simple solution to having a laptop on the go while you travel and do simple tasks such as browsing emails, surfing the internet and other simple daily tasks. All of it without having to worry about draining your battery too fast and having to charge your laptop too often.

This model only has an onboard storage capacity of 16GB which is relatively small but makes up for it with a MicroSD card slot to add extra storage capacity with a MicroSD card. That said, Chrome OS is designed to run on the ‘cloud’, that is on the Internet, so most thing are saved online.

As a plus, this Chromebook also comes in three different colors to make sure there is at least one that fits your taste.

100GB of free online storage for two years
You also get 100GB of free Google Drive storage for 2 years.

Pros:

Lowest cost for a Chromebook: Less than $200!

Highly portable: 11.3 x 0.7 x 7.6″, only 2lbs!

Long battery life: Up to 13 hours of battery life.

SSDs are better for overall performance, especially when booting the laptop.

MicroSD slot to add a MicroSD card for extra storage to store extra images, music and videos.

100GB of Google drive online storage (free for two years)

Bluetooth 4.0.

802.11ac WiFi.

Cons:

No dedicated left and right click buttons.

16GB storage capacity isn’t much but thankfully it is possible to compensate by adding a MicroSD card in the MicroSD slot.

Speakers are okay, not great

Screen with a 1366 x 768 resolution and a TN panel: Poor contrast, not accurate color reproduction and poor viewing angles. Expected at this price point.

No VGA output, only Micro-HDMI. Get a Micro-HDMI to HDMI cable if you want to connect a HDTV or an external monitor.

No Numpad

Keyboard layout could be better, as an example the power button on the top right corner of the keyboard can be annoying for some.

Alternative

ASUS Chromebook Flip

About the ASUS Chromebook Flip

The Chromebook Flip packs all the hardware that the ASUS C201PA-DS02 has with a few extra goodies: it has a smaller 10.1″ screen instead of 11.6″ and is also convertible, meaning you can flip the screen all the way back and use the touchscreen on this laptop just like on a tablet. This can be useful to browse pictures, watch videos, use some apps that are optimized for touchscreen and any other task you feel is more conveniently done that way.

This Chromebook also gets a nice IPS display panel instead of a TN panel, which means better contrast, more accurate color reproduction and larger viewing angles.

If you like the idea of the ASUS Chromebook Flip but would like a larger screen, see the Acer CB5-312T-K8Z9 13.3″ below.

Acer CB3-431-C5FM 14″

About the Acer CB3-431-C5FM

– Full aluminium body
– Up to 12 hours battery life
– Very thin and light for a 14″ laptop (3.47lbs)

Looking for a Chromebook that offers more storage space, a better display, a solid build and more performance? This is the perfect model for you.
The Acer CB3-431-C5FM offers all of that at an amazing price. It is a major step up from the ASUS C201PA-DS02. Starting with the larger and better 14″ screen with an IPS display panel that gives better contrasts, more accurate colors and larger viewing angles.

On top of that it has double the capacity in internal storage (32GB) and that let’s you add more applications and media on your Chromebook without having to worry too much about loading your storage capacity up too quickly although, sadly,this model does not have a MicroSD slot to add extra storage capacity with MicroSD cards.

This model is heavier, but it still is quite portable as it is pretty thin and weights only 3.47lbs.

To sum things up, on top of being able to do daily tasks such as browsing emails and the internet, it is also a great choice to watch movies and TV shows with a great image quality thanks to the IPS panel in the screen.

Pros:

Great cost: For all the great features this laptop comes with, it is better than all the other Chromebooks at this price point.

Keyboard layout could be better, as an example the power button on the top right corner of the keyboard can be annoying, for some, and the right arrow button isn’t the same shape as the other arrow buttons..

Acer CB5-312T-K8Z9 13.3″

About the Acer CB5-312T-K8Z9 13.3″

– 360° Hinge
– Up to 12 hours battery life
– Very thin and only 3.28lbs

This model is a great choice if you want a Chromebook that has a 13.3″ screen that can be flipped all the way back and if you don’t worry about storage size as it has 64GB onboard storage and on top of that it is possible to add extra storage with a MicroSD card via a MicroSD slot.

This Chromebook is also equiped with a 1920 x 1080 1080p Full HD display and an IPS panel.

The 360° Hinge and touchscreen makes it possible to use this Chromebook as a tablet to enjoy apps, videos and images without having a keyboard in the way.

Pros:

Highly portable: 12.8 x 0.6 x 9.0″, only 3.28lbs!

Long battery life: 12 hours of battery life

Silent: Fanless and no moving part

Convertible Touchscreen, so you can easily watch movies, browse images and do similar tasks with no keyboard in the way.

MicroSD card slot to add a MicroSD card for extra storage capacity to store extra images, music and videos.

Ultrabooks: Thin, lightweight

Standard screen ultrabook

Dell Latitude E7240:

About the Dell Latitude E7240:

If you are looking for a good Ultrabook at the most inexpensive price, this is the model for you. It has a Intel Core i5-4300U CPU, which is older, but still quite powerful, there is 8GB of RAM and there is even a 128GB SSD in it, which improves the computer overall responsiveness and helps it boot quickly.

This laptop is 0.8″ thin and only weights 2.99lbs which is really great.

This laptop is refurbished, meaning it has been restored to work and look like a new product, and comes with a 90 days warranty.

Dell Latitude 5000 E5270:

About the Dell Latitude 5000 E5270:

This is a nice upgrade from the Dell latitude E7240 as it has a better CPU, the Intel i5-6200U, that is also quite powerful. The SSD gets a storage capacity upgrade with a capacity of 256GB instead of 128GB. It also has a Full HD 1920 x 1080 resolution and has a touchscreen display.

This laptop is 0.9″ thin and only weights 3.28lbs so it is a bit heavier and thicker than the E7240.

This laptop is refurbished, meaning it has been restored to work and look like a new product, and comes with a 90 days warranty.

Acer Touch V3-372T Ultrabook:

About the Acer Touch V3-372T Ultrabook:

This is for sure the best deal you can get on a budget Ultrabook for an amazing performance. It is equipped with a powerful Intel Core i7-6500U Dual-Core processor, has 8 GB of RAM and a huge 512GB SSD for a faster and smooth overall performance.

It also has a beautiful display with a full HD resolution and an IPS display panel for better contrasts, accurate colors and larger view angles.

This laptop is refurbished, meaning it has been restored to work and look like a new product, and comes with a 90 days warranty.

2-in-1 convertible screen ultrabook

Lenovo ThinkPad Yoga

About the Lenovo ThinkPad Yoga:

This Ultrabook is one of the most inexpensive and portable of its category. It has a Intel Celeron N2940 which is not a powerhouse but good enough for regular tasks such as browsing the internet, checking your emails and watching videos.

It has a 120GB SSD which is a fast drive but doesn’t have alot of storage capacity. Luckily there is an SD slot to add an SD card for extra storage capacity so it makes up for the lack of disk space.

Acer Spin 5

About the Acer Spin 5:

If you are looking for a convertible laptop that offers a better overall performance than the above recommendation, this is the model you are looking for. It has a quite powerful i5-6200U Dual core processor, 8GB RAM and a nice 256GB SSD.

Right now, there is hardly any other 2-in-1 convertible build that gets as good as this one at this price point.

Detachable screen ultrabook

ASUS Transformer Book Chi 300CHI-F1-DB:

ASUS Transformer Book Chi:

If you are looking for a 2-in-1 detachable laptop that does minimal tasks easily such as browsing the internet, emails and other small tasks. This is the right model for you. Some of it’s best feature are the Full HD resolution and an IPS panel for better contrasts, accurate colors and larger view angles. It has a Intel Core M 5Y10 CPU which is by no means a powerhouse but will be enough for regular tasks, as long as you don’t need high sustained performance and don’t run anything that is too heavy such as demanding game and apps.

Lenovo IdeaPad Miix 700:

About the Lenovo IdeaPad Miix 700:

This is a really nice upgrade from the above recommendation as just about everything in it is better. It has a newer Intel M5 6Y54 6th generation processor which is more powerful. It is also lighter, the tablet part of this device is only 1.70lbs!

If you’re looking for a low-cost alternative to the Microsoft Surface, this is an excellent choice.

It also has double the RAM meaning you can multitask and run more applications at the same time without slowdowns. Double the storage space which allows you not to worry about running out of space as quickly.

For its great price and even better features, this is the best budget detachable 2-in-1 laptop on the market.

Apple Macbook

Apple MacBook Air MD711LL/A

About theMacBook Air MD711LL/A:

This is great if you want an Apple Macbook at the lowest cost possible. This laptop is light weight, has an excellent battery life, great backlit keyboard and trackpad. This model has a Intel Core i5-4250U CPU which is older but still relatively powerful.

The Macbook air is a reliable machine and is ideal or traveling.

This Macbook is a refurbished item, meaning it has been restored to work and look like a new product.

Pros:

Least expensive Macbook laptop.

Incredibly thin and lightweight: Only 2.38lbs and 0.11-0.68″ thick. Perfect if you’re traveling and often on the move.

Average CPU performance: Great for web browsing, music, Office work and lightweight programs. Not ideal for heavy photo/video editing, heavy multitasking or demanding programs where high sustained CPU performance is required. You’ll want a more powerful CPU and possibly more RAM for better performance, so consider a Macbook Pro instead.

Limited GPU (video card) performance. Forget playing modern video games or 3D rendering: you want a dedicated video card for that. Once again, a Macbook Pro would be a better option.

No LAN port

No optical drive. You can get an external USB powered optical drive, if you want to.

No Numpad

The Macbook Air RAM cannot be upgraded: It’s soldered. The SSD storage can be upgraded if you have the right tool, don’t mind following a guide to disassemble your Macbook Air and a guide to copy your data.

Gaming laptops

Acer Aspire E 15 E5-575G-52RJ

If you want a laptop that’s powerful enough for running games at 1366 x 768 low/medium settings, or older games at a rock-bottom price, this is a good deal.

Do you want to run the most demanding games, or do you want to play at an higher resolution and or with higher visual quality settings? In that case, I recommend that you get a more powerful gaming laptop. See our other recommendations below.

Single stick of 8GB of DDR4 RAM. Easy to upgrade to 16GB (2x8GB) by adding a 8GB RAM stick.

RAM can be upgraded to 32GB (2x16GB DDR4). See our recommended RAM upgrades toward the end of the article.

RAM and hard drive are easy to access, if you want to upgrade them.

High capacity 1TB hard drive

Numpad

Screen has a matte finish, doesn’t reflect light

HDMI and VGA Outputs

Windows 10

Decent keyboard for typing

Decent speakers, especially for the price

Decent build quality, with aluminum.

This is my opinion: It looks good, unlike some gaming laptops that are a bit too flashy.

720p HD webcam

1920 x 1080 1080p Full HD display

SD card reader

802.11ac WiFi

Bluetooth 4.1

Good battery life for a gaming laptop: Up to 8 hours battery life with low brightness and no WiFi. Realistically, expect 4-6 hours for web browsing, 1.5-2 hours for gaming.

Total of 4 USB ports, including one USB 3.1 Type-C, two USB 3.0 Type A (one with power-off charging) and one USB 2.0

Cons:

Trackpad doesn’t have dedicated buttons.

No Backlit keyboard.

Single stick of RAM means single-channel memory, not dual-channel. Expect a small (average 5%) performance hit compared to dual channel. Add a second stick (preferably same capacity) for optimal RAM performance.

No optical drive, but there’s room for one, so there’s also space for a drive caddy, if you want to add a SSD, you can put it in an optical drive caddy and put it in your laptop instead of an optical drive.

Keyboard layout could be better. For example, the up and down arrows are half size. The power button at the top right of the keyboard could be an annoyance for some.

Acer Aspire E 15 E5-575G-53VG

Compared to the recommendation above, you get the same Nvidia Geforce 940MX (2GB GDDR5) dedicated GPU and Intel Core i5-6200U CPU, but with a 256GB SSD and a much longer battery life of up to 12 hours!

If you want a laptop that’s powerful enough for running games at 1366 x 768 low/medium settings, or older games at a rock-bottom price, this is a good deal.

Do you want to run the most demanding games, or do you want to play at an higher resolution and or with higher visual quality settings? In that case, I recommend that you get a more powerful gaming laptop. See our other recommendations below.

Pros:

Lowest cost for a gaming laptop with a decent dedicated video card and a 256GB SSD

Single stick of 8GB of DDR4 RAM. Easy to upgrade to 16GB (2x8GB) by adding a 8GB RAM stick.

RAM can be upgraded to 32GB (2x16GB DDR4). See our recommended RAM upgrades toward the end of the article.

RAM and SSD are easy to access, if you want to upgrade them.

High performance 256GB SSD

Numpad

Screen has a matte finish, doesn’t reflect light

HDMI and VGA Outputs

Windows 10

Decent keyboard for typing

Decent speakers, especially for the price

Decent build quality.

This is my opinion: It looks good, unlike some gaming laptops that are a bit too flashy.

720p HD webcam

1920 x 1080 1080p Full HD display

SD card reader

802.11ac WiFi

Bluetooth 4.1

Good battery life for a gaming laptop: Up to 12 hours battery life with low brightness and no WiFi. Realistically, expect 6-10 hours for web browsing, 3-4 hours for gaming.

Total of 4 USB ports, including one USB 3.1 Type-C, two USB 3.0 Type A (one with power-off charging) and one USB 2.0

Optical drive

Cons:

Trackpad doesn’t have dedicated buttons.

No Backlit keyboard.

Single stick of RAM means single-channel memory, not dual-channel. Expect a small (average 5%) performance hit compared to dual channel. Add a second stick (preferably same capacity) for optimal RAM performance.

Keyboard layout could be better. For example, the up and down arrows are half size. The power button at the top right of the keyboard could be an annoyance for some.

Good battery life for a gaming laptop: Up to 8 hours battery life with low brightness and no WiFi. Realistically, expect 4-6 hours for web browsing, 1.5-2 hours for gaming.

3 USB ports: 2x USB 3.0 and one USB 2.0

Cons:

Keyboard layout could be better. For example, the up and down arrows are half size. The power button at the top right of the keyboard could be an annoyance for some.

Low performance 5400rpm hard drive but there is a 128GB SSD so you get fast boot times and a responsive laptop.

That said, out of that 128GB SSD, you get less than 100GB available to use. In order to keep getting optimal performance, you want to keep at least 10%, preferably 20% of that space free.

No optical drive. You can get an external USB powered optical drive, if you want to.

Single stick of RAM means single-channel memory, not dual-channel. Expect a small (average 5%) performance hit compared to dual channel. Add a second stick (preferably same capacity) for optimal RAM performance.

Average build quality, at least you get an aluminum cover for the screen.

Traditional 15.6″ laptop

Acer Aspire E5-575-33BM:

The Acer Aspire E 15 offers amazing value for the money: A laptop equipped with a relatively powerful 7th Generation Core i3 CPU and a screen with a 1920 x 1080 resolution at the $350 price point is unheard of.

Acer Aspire E5-575-521W:

If you’re looking for better performance all around, this model is a nice step up from the E5-575-33BM. It’s equipped with a more powerful i5-6200U 6th gen processor, has 8GB of DDR4 RAM and is also equipped with a full HD screen.

This laptop also comes with a 256GB SSD which is great as SSDs help your computer feel more responsive than with a regular hard drive and even faster when it comes to booting the laptop.

Acer Swift 3:

This laptop has a CPU that is a bit older than the ASUS F556UA-AB54 but still offers a great performance.It is also much more portable with its 14″ screen and is much lighter with a weight only 3.3lbs.

Combine that with an IPS display panel for better contrasts, more accurate colors and larger view angles and you get the perfect traditional laptop to carry around. This is also the best model in its category for this price range.

At a budget price range, this is the best traditional laptop you can get!

17.3″ entertainment and desktop replacement laptop

HP Notebook Laptop:

HP Notebook Laptop:

This is the best choice if you are looking for the most inexpensive entertainment desktop replacement laptop at the best price. This laptop has a AMD quad-core A10-8700P CPU which is quite powerful, 8GB of RAM and a 1TB HDD.

This laptop is refurbished meaning it has been cleaned, built and tested to work and look like a new product. It is also repackaged and has a 90 days warranty.

Pros:

Equipped with an A10-8700P Quad-core APU 1.8-3.2GHz.

1TB hard drive which is plenty of storage.

1600 x 900 HD+ resolution.

Windows 10

2 x USB 2.0 and 1 x USB 3.0 ports.

HDMI output to connect your display to an external display.

Ethernet RJ45 port for a direct internet connection.

Multi-format digital media card reader : Can be useful for extra storage or to upload media from devices such as cameras.

Acer Laptop Aspire E5-774G-52W1

At this price, the Aspire E5-774G-52W1 offers great performance with the i5-7200U CPU from the newest generation of Intel processors. A beautiful full HD display and top that with a 256GB SSD for a responsive laptop with a fast booting speed.

It also comes with a NVIDIA GeForce 940MX graphics card which is a decent card to run games at low or medium settings with a good FPS rate.

No optical drive. You can get an external USB powered optical drive, if you want to.

The battery life is not that good, with an estimate of 5.5 hours battery life per charge so you can expect much less when using the computer for demanding tasks such as games and ressource heavy applications.

Business laptops

HP 13.3″ ProBook 430 G3 Notebook:

About the HP ProBook 430 G3:

This laptop is the perfect entry-level business laptop. It is equipped with a fairly powerful Intel Core i3-6100U Dual-Core CPU, 8GB of DDR3 RAM and has a 128GB SSD that makes the laptop more responsive, boot faster, more reliable and more shock resistant than a laptop equipped with a regular hard drive.

It is equipped with a fingerprint scanner for extra security and a Trusted Platform Module that does hardware based encryption to protect your data.

The HP ProBook 430 also comes with 1 year of Kaspersky internet security 2016 anti-virus which is a nice little perk.

Lenovo 14″ ThinkPad E460 Notebook:

About the Lenovo 14″ ThinkPad E460 Notebook:

If you are looking for more performance and more features than what the HP ProBook 430 can offer, this model will do the job for you. It is equipped with an Intel Core i5-6200U CPU which is a nice upgrade from the i3-6100U as it features the Turbo mode, allowing it to reach higher frequencies, resulting in higher performance..

It also has several nice features such as a trackpoint, a finger print reader for extra security and a spill resistant keyboard.

It has a 7200 RPM 500GB Hard drive, meaning it is a bit faster than what most laptops have but slower than an SSD.

Single stick of RAM means single-channel memory, not dual-channel. Expect a small (average 5%) performance hit compared to dual channel. Add a second stick (preferably same capacity) for optimal RAM performance.

No optical drive. You can get an external USB powered optical drive, if you want to..

Dell Latitude E5470:

About the Dell Latitude E5470:

This model is quite frankly the best when it comes to performance, display and features wise that you can get on a budget business laptop. It is equipped with a Intel i5-6300HQ Quad-Core CPU for an great performance, has 8GB RAM and a 180GB SSD that makes the laptop more responsive, boot faster, more reliable and more shock resistant than a laptop equipped with a regular hard drive.

Combine all of this with a Full HD 1080p 1920 x 1080 resolution screen, a very solid build quality, plenty of different ports and multiple security features and you get the best business laptop on a budget!

Pros:

Equipped with an Intel Core i5-6300HQ Quad-Core 2.3-3.2GHz CPU.

Oustanding battery life: Expect 11 hours of web browsing with WiFi

Windows 10 Pro

8GB of DDR3 RAM that can be upgraded up to 64GB.

2 memory slots for RAM and one slot is empty, meaning you can easily add an extra stick of 4GB to get 12GB or even a stick of 8GB to get 16GB.

Easy maintenance : you only have to remove the bottom cover and the memory, drive, battery and fan are accessible.

No optical drive. You can get an external USB powered optical drive, if you want to.

Single stick of RAM means single-channel memory, not dual-channel. Expect a small (average 5%) performance hit compared to dual channel. Add a second stick (preferably same capacity) for optimal RAM performance.

No Backlit Keyboard

Workstations

Lenovo Thinkpad W530:

About the Lenovo Thinkpad W530:

This workstation is the best laptop you can get performance wise and reliability wise when it comes to mobile workstations at this price point. It is equiped with a older but still highly powerful Intel Core i7-3720QM Quad Core + Hyper-Threading 2.6-3.6GHz CPU, 16GB of RAM, a 500GB hard drive and a NVIDIA K2000M 2GB Graphic Card.

It also has a Full HD display and extra features such as a fingerprint reader for authentification and an optical drive to read CDs, DVDs and Bluerays.

This is a refurbished product, meaning it has been restored to work and look like a new product. It also has a 90 days warranty.

Upgrade your Laptop:

Upgrade your RAM:

RAM can easily be upgraded on most laptops. Do note that some laptops cannot be upgraded at all, due to their unique design. A quick google search should provide that info. Feel free to ask me in the comment section if you aren’t sure and can’t find the info.

Some laptops accept hard drives with a 7mm height, others with a 9.5mm height.

Upgrade to a SSD or upgrade your current SSD to get higher capacity and/or higher performance!

A SSD (Solid State Drive) is far faster than a hard drive (See our SSD FAQ) and it also consumes less power than a hard drive, so replacing a hard drive by a SSD will slightly boost your laptop’s battery life.

This particular enclosure comes with a retractable cable that is connected to the enclosure, so you don’t lose/forget it and it makes the whole package more compact too. It comes with an extension cord if you need it.

Looking for a different external case or need a specific cable? Leave a comment if you need assistance with finding what’s best for your needs.

USB DVD and Blu-Ray Drives

If your laptop doesn’t come with an optical drive and you want one, here are my recommendations for external USB optical drives.

About The Author

HR Founder - Computer expert with over 16 years of experience in building, fixing and modifying PCs.
Over the years, I’ve developed a passion for PC hardware and now I enjoy helping others build their own PCs!
In April 2008, I launched Hardware Revolution and ... Read more at my about page

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